Ely's Recommedations #4

Do you know what time it is? That's right...IT'S RECOMMENDATION TIME! You can see my other recommendation posts here: #1, #2 and #3. I've read so so much since my last recommendation post that I had a seriously hard time cutting this down to just five, but without further ado, here they are:

1. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier
You might not know this, but Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is one of my all-time favourite books but I think Jamaica Inn is making it's way up that list. Both of these are mystery novels, but this one has a little bit more romance than Rebecca. That's not why I love it. I love it because there are some many twists and turns and the love interest, Jem Merlyn, is to die for. Also, the brand new BBC miniseries is glorious.

2. The Purgatorium by Eva Pohler
If you want a proper review for this, you can check out the one I did earlier this month here. In short, this book gets into your head and you don't know which characters you can trust and which you should dislike. It's absolutely brilliant.

3. Finnkin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
I've been meaning to read Melina Marchetta for ages, but this just happened to be the first one I got to. It's amazing. It's fantasy with some romance with a little bit of mystery and magic thrown in too. It's incredibly fun to read, and the character Evanjalin is seriously amazing.

4. Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier
I warned in my review of this that I was probably going to talk about this one for the next couple of years until everyone is completely bored of me. To sum it up, this is brilliant and so very different to everything else that's out there at the moment. It's definitely become a new favourite of mine and I'm determined to get everyone else on this planet to read it too. Also, you should my review and enter the giveaway (AUS only).

5. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
This one is also a fantasy, but it's more Middle Grade than Finnikin of the Rock. I can't even begin to describe how fun this book is, I laughed so many times while reading. I also fell completely in love with the protagonist, a fifteen year old boy named Will. And yeah, I might be older than him but true love knows no age. But really guys, you should read this!

Some notable mentions are: Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, North and South, Reboot and Rebel, The Raven Boys, My Life Next Door and Finale. See what I mean when I said I had trouble deciding?

Now, what are your recommendations? Have you read any of these? Have I influenced you to pick any of this up?

As we all know, Chami has taken to an event called, "Let's destroy Ely's post by adding some Chami stuff into it as well". So, Hi everyone. It's me here again. 

Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead
If you are put off just by the title having "Vampire", then you don't deserve to read this series becomes your one dimensional and just damn judgemental. This is one of my favourite series EVER and if you are seriously worried about the fact that there are vampires in it, think of it as a culture. Because in this series, it is. Give this series a good two books to fall in love. Because when you fall. You fall hard.

I can't even mention anything else because everyone needs to read this series. Have you read it? Did you love it? Comment down below and tell us what you think?

Review: REBOOT + REBEL by Amy Tintera

Title: Reboot (Reboot #1) + Rebel (Reboot #2)

Author: Amy Tintera

Genre: Young Adult/Sci Fi/Dystopian.

Publication Date: June 2013 + June 1st 2014

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384 +352

Form of Review: Series Review - Non- Spoiler.

Rating: 5/5

REBOOT:

'5 years ago, I died. 178 minutes later, I woke up.'

In this post-apocalyptic thriller a deadly virus mutation sees teenagers raised from the dead and trained to be vicious soldiers until Wren, the deadliest Reboot, joins forces with Callum, the most innocent, to try to overthrow the organisation that has corrupted their world.

REBEL:

The sequel and exciting conclusion to the action-packed Reboot.

Wren and Callum finally reach the Reboot Reservation, a safe haven from HARC, which controls the cities. But it isn’t the paradise they’d hoped for. As they learn more about Micah, the bloodthirsty Reboot who runs it, they discover that he’s been creating an army with one goal in mind: to kill the humans in the cities … ALL of them. Wren’s first instinct is to head out for new territory, but Callum can’t stand by and let his human family and everyone else be hunted down. With HARC on one side and Micah on the other, saving the innocent and forging a lasting peace between humans and Reboots is a nearly impossible task. But Wren and Callum have never let that stop them before.

Since this series is a duology (only two books) I’ve decided to review the two books together. And since this is a review based around the whole series, I’m going to try and keep it unspoilery. Before we start, Ely and I received these books to review but that no way alters our opinion of the book. If you would like to view Ely's review of Reboot click here. If you would like to view Ely's review of Rebel which has spoilers, click here.  So have fun!

I personally am not a big Zombie fan, and like Ely, when I heard that it was Zombish I was kind of thrown off. Like, when do us Young Adult readers normally see Zombie’s mixed in with dystopia’s? Like never. But the thing is, it worked perfectly. Amy Tintera sure knows how to keep you intrigued and this sure did that exactly.

The pacing off the series was excellent and Wren and Callum are both lovable and the world building is crazy. I seriously don’t know how people come up with these kinds of ideas but all elements combined beautifully. Normally one may see a decline in quality throughout a series but this was the opposite. The first book served a basic foundation and the second finished it off nicely. Even thought I would’ve liked more of Wren and Callum!

One of the things I also loved the most is how we enter action as soon as we open the first page. The Ideas that Amy develops gives an insight to the variety of perceptions of humanity. In the end, what does it really mean to be human?

One of the most outstanding things was the character development with Wren. Once each layer was peeled back you could see her more distinctly. It wasn’t obvious but once you look back you realise how much all the characters actually changed. Applause to Tintera for being able to swiftly develop characters and make the reader still love them throughout the whole entire way.

Finally, Thank you to Lara from A&U for providing Ely and I with the copies to the series.

Love you all!

REVIEW: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Title: Reboot (Reboot #1)

Author: Amy Tintera

Genre: Young Adult. Sci Fi. Dystopian.

Publication Date: June 2013

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384

Rating: 5/5

'5 years ago, I died. 178 minutes later, I woke up.'

In this post-apocalyptic thriller a deadly virus mutation sees teenagers raised from the dead and trained to be vicious soldiers until Wren, the deadliest Reboot, joins forces with Callum, the most innocent, to try to overthrow the organisation that has corrupted their world.

Reboot was sent to me for review, but this is no way alters my opinion of this book.

I don’t even know where to start with this. I loved it, okay? I didn’t really know much about this before it was sent to me- I know it was sort of Dystopian/Sci Fi and I knew I wanted to read it. It wasn’t until I got the little like ‘press sheet’ that I realised that this has kind of got a zombie thing going on. I’ve never really read zombies, but I’d heard such great things about Reboot that I didn’t really mind. 

I loved the two main characters- Wren and Callum. Usually, it takes me at least a few chapters to warm up to characters but I loved these two from the moment they appeared. I love a good strong female lead (don’t we all?) and I definitely think Wren fits that bill. She’s a serious badass, guys. I would not want to get caught with her in a dark alley…not at all. I especially loved that Callum is the weaker of the two. I’ve noticed usually when you get a strong female lead, you get an equally strong or stronger male lead, but in this. Well, Callum’s pretty terrible. I love that. 

I loved the plot too. It was fast-paced but not too fast-paced. There were those parts that weren’t so much about the action but rather about the world and the bigger picture. All of it was interesting, I don’t think there was an actual moment when I was even remotely bored. I loved how Amy Tintera built the world- I think it’s amazing but it’s also very unique. Like I said, I don’t have a lot of experience in the zombie genre but I think this has got to be one of the most unique. 

Now, before I finish off this review, I wanted to dedicate a special little section here to talking about the book itself. As in, the aesthetics of it rather than the content. Words cannot describe how amazing this book looks. I tried to explain it but I didn’t do a very good job at that, so I’ve just included these pictures for you instead. BUT DO YOU SEE THAT? CAN YOU SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL THEY ARE? 

Finally, I just want to mention how excited I am to the read the sequel, Rebel. I’M REALLY, REALLY EXCITED!! I can’t wait to see where this story goes and meet some new characters. 

Thank you the lovely (and very helpful) Lara from Allen and Unwin for sending both Chami and I copies of Reboot!

Bout of Books 10.0 Update Days 4 & 5

Can I just start this post off by saying that my original goal for this read-a-thon was four books? I've now read 6 books and have started a 7th. THIS IS MADNESS.

Anyway, Wednesday night, I did end up finishing Half Bad and I also started Jane Eyre of which I read 92 pages. My original goal was to read up to page 50 of Jane Eyre, so this really surprised me. I ended up reading a staggering 866 pages on Wednesday.

Now, onto the actual update! Yesterday, I continued and finished Jane Eyre. I read the 374 pages that I had left. I didn't start any other books.

Today. Well. I started off this morning with Reboot by Amy Tintera, and I read all 384 pages of that. Then I read Tales from the Secret Annexe by Anne Frank, so that's another 144 pages. That's 528 pages so far. I've also started Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier. I'm only 38 pages in at the moment, but I'm hoping to read to at least page 100 tonight.

As for tomorrow, I hope I can finish Jamaica Inn. Then, I'd like to start Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. At 615 pages, I don't imagine I'll finish it by the end of the read-a-thon but I'd at least like to start it, but we shall see!